1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for making a cream cheese type product having the appearance, taste, consistency and texture of cream cheese and, more specifically, to a method for making an imitation cream cheese product having a fat content significantly below that of conventional cream cheese and of heretofore known imitation cream cheeses.
2. Description of the Prior Act
In recent years, for health as well as cosmetic reasons, there has developed an increasing concern with diet which has focused on diets that reduce calorie and fat consumption. Low calorie foods which look and take like their higher calorie counterparts have been eagerly sought by the public. To this end food researchers have concentrated on developing food products which are nutritious and palatable, but which contain substantially reduced levels of high calorie and/or fatty components. This is particularly true in the dairy industry where such low calorie, low fat products as skim milk, yogurt, and the like have been successfully marketed. However, the high fat levels in some dairy products, such as cream cheese (fat content of at least about 33%), have heretofore been thought to be necessary to maintain a desirable creamy mouth feel and to avoid the powdery, grainy mouth feel associated with prior low fat forms of cream cheese. As a result, those choosing to reduce their caloric or fat intake have usually omitted high fat dairy products, such as cream cheese, from their diets.
At least partially in response to the desire of the dieting public to continue to partake of these heretofore high fat dairy products, efforts have been made to develop imitation cream cheeses which substitute vegetable fats for the animal fats normally found in dairy products. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,982 to Yoshida et al disclosing a fermentation process for preparing a 31 to 35% vegetable fat or oil-containing imitation cream cheese product. In addition, efforts have been made to develop imitation cream cheese products which contain reduced fat contents. Exemplary efforts in this regard are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,160,159 to Lundstedt et al and 3,929,892 to Hynes et al. However, the fat content of the cheese products produced by the methods of these patents still exceed about 10% fat, a content which is unacceptably high from the standpoint of those desiring or required to reduce their calorie or fat intake.
Moreover, some of these prior art methods require involved processing steps and/or impose ingredient standards which are unrealistically difficult or expensive to meet. For example, Hynes et al describe a process for making an imitation cream cheese which involves difficult and/or expensive procedures such as successive heating steps, denaturation of serum proteins in the presence of casein to achieve the desired features of the therein described invention, and close ingredient control to achieve a prescribed level of lactose in the final product.
More recently, methods have been developed for making very low butterfat content imitation cream cheese products having very low calorie contents which are intended for the diet coscious consumers. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,244,983 to Baker and 4,379,175 to Baker there are disclosed imitation cream cheese products, and methods for their manufacture, having butterfat content of less than about 5%, preferably less than about 2%, and which contribute only about 60 calories per serving to the diet. The very low butterfat content of these products, although extremely attractive to diet conscious consumers, make it very difficult to closely duplicate the creamy and full-bodied consistency of full fat cream cheese. Moreover, the disclosed methods for making these very low butterfat content imitation cream cheese products are not as efficient and economical as had been anticipated.